Reflection on Patient's Perspective in ICU: Healthcare Report

This report reflects on the experience of a patient, Melisa, who was admitted to the ICU due to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The report draws from a patient testimonial, detailing the psychological and emotional distress caused by the ICU environment, including feelings of isolation, discomfort with medical procedures, and memory issues. The reflection emphasizes the importance of understanding the patient's perspective and the potential for adverse psychological effects of ICU stays, such as PTSD and depression. It highlights the significance of communication, therapeutic relationships, and providing adequate information to patients to mitigate these negative impacts. The report references various literature to support the claims regarding the impact of ICU on patients' mental health, advocating for interventions like mental support and improved communication strategies from healthcare professionals to enhance the quality of life for ICU survivors. The assignment fulfills the brief by reflecting on a patient's experience, considering the perspective of the person being cared for, and analyzing the impact of the experience on the patient's well-being, as well as the role of healthcare professionals in mitigating the negative effects.

Running head: HEALTHCARE
Patient’s perspective on ICU Reflection and Evaluation
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Reporting
The story of the patient is taken from a video posted
inhttps://www.icudelirium.org/patients-and-families/patient-testimonials. This report
describes the incident of a patient named Melisa who was admitted in ICU due to acute
respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Inside the ICU it was very stressful for Melisa and
she was under rehabilitation for six months. She was previously diagnosed with leukaemia.
However, her experience of ARDS was more stressful than the previous time. The experience
in ICU not only affected her in her physical level but also affected her psychological and
emotional wellbeing. She was very weak during the treatment and her weakness remained
after rehabilitation. She felt uncomfortable due to the atmosphere in ICU. According to her
she was a prisoner. Apart from that, the activity of the health professionals made her
uncomfortable. She also got irritated due to the sounds of activity outside of the room. Later,
she faced issues with her memory which affected her professional carrier. In case of Melisa,
the psychological impact on her was severe.
Responding
Melisa was facing severe problem during the time of her treatment. Her story made
me to think about the patient’s perspective once again. It is understood that, inside ICU a
patient does not feel comfortable and as a health professional it affects me. It is frustrating for
me that, inside ICU it is all the advance machines may treat some health conditions but we
are not thinking about the psychological effect of the set up in the patient. Nurses need to
understand the patient’s perspective but in this situation a question may occur regarding the
roles of nurses to understand Melisa’s feeling. Apart from that, how nurses took action to
mitigate Melisa’s psychological condition?

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Relating
Different literature supported the fact that patients have difficulty to stay in ICU
(Wieske et al., 2015). However, it is also reported that patients remember both positive and
adverse experiences in the ICU (Rittayamai et al., 2016). In these situations, it is important to
engage with the patient to develop a therapeutic relationship. Because of this, the nurses can
provide the information to the patient regarding the treatment plan and its effects. Several
literatures reported that adequate information of the health condition helps the patient to feel
confident and motivated. Apart from that, good communication can help the health personnel
to understand the issues, which are making the patient uncomfortable. Hence, these
situations, communication and therapeutic relationship play a significant role to understand
the patient’s condition.
Reasoning
According to several literature ARDS can occur in elderly adults due to pneumonia or
flu (Koutsoukou et al., 2017). The symptoms of this problem include tiredness, difficulty in
breathing etc. (Koutsoukou et al., 2017). The health condition is directly linked with different
complications such as muscle weakness, mental instability especially in memory, clinical
depression etc. (Siegel, 2018). In case of Melisa all of these complications occurred. ICU is
always a matter of stress in case of patients (Baumgarten & Poulsen, 2015). Different studies
reported about the short term and long term impact of ICU in the psychological level of the
patient (Wieske et al., 2015). Several studies reported that patients who had an experience of
ICU may face high risk of depression. Moreover, depression in the survivors sometimes are
closely related to their death (Fumis et al., 2015). One of the main reasons of depression in
patient can occur due to the change in life style of the survivors (Fumis et al., 2015). It affects
the self-confidence of the patient as he or she need to perform each and every work with

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assistance (Fumis et al., 2015). Melisa was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD). Several study reported that PTSD can affect different physical and emotional
reactions of a patient (Paige & Dennis, 2018). It can also involve in inducing negative
thoughts to the patient (Paige & Dennis, 2018).
Reconstructing
ICU is a medical set up which contains all the specific and optimized instrument
required to provide adequate care to the patient. It is true that ICU is the only possible
medical set up which can help the patient with high risk of death. The common concept of
ICU is that, it is the best available option to the patients. However, it has several adverse
effects which can reduce the quality of life of the survivor. The negative impact of ICU on
the patient’s life is severe and can lead to serious psychological disorder. Hence, the
interventions such as proper communication, mental support, and adequate information are
important. As a healthcare professional, the main aim refers to provide the best possible
treatment to the patient. However, the patient’s perspective towards the treatment may be
completely different. It is important to understand the patient’s perspective and organise the
treatment plan accordingly.

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Reference
Fumis, R. R. L., Ranzani, O. T., Martins, P. S., &Schettino, G. (2015). Emotional disorders in
pairs of patients and their family members during and after ICU stay. PLoS One,
10(1), e0115332.
Koutsoukou, A., Katsiari, M., Orfanos, S., Rovina, N., Dimitrakopoulou, C., & Kotanidou, A.
(2017). ARDS in Aged Patients: Respiratory System Mechanics and Outcome. Health
Science Journal, 11(2), 1.
Paige, J., & Dennis, A. (2018). Post-ICU syndrome. In The Beginner's Guide to Intensive
Care (pp. 421-426). CRC Press.
Patient Testimonials. (2019). Retrived on: August 9, 2019. Retrived from:
https://www.icudelirium.org/patients-and-families/patient-testimonials.
Rittayamai, N., Wilcox, E., Drouot, X., Mehta, S., Goffi, A., &Brochard, L. (2016). Positive
and negative effects of mechanical ventilation on sleep in the ICU: a review with
clinical recommendations. Intensive care medicine, 42(4), 531-541.
Siegel, M. D. (2018). Acute respiratory distress syndrome: Clinical features, diagnosis, and
complications in adults.
Wieske, L., Dettling-Ihnenfeldt, D. S., Verhamme, C., Nollet, F., van Schaik, I. N., Schultz,
M. J., ... & van der Schaaf, M. (2015). Impact of ICU-acquired weakness on post-ICU
physical functioning: a follow-up study. Critical Care, 19(1), 196.